Brodie

Who woulve thought that a Southland harness meeting would be abandoned due to lack of entries? Obviously a very bad sign for racing in the deep south! Invercargill meeting set down for Friday this week has been abandoned due to lack of entries! Not sure whether Michael House had entered his horses but he has been keeping field no.s up at various meetings including Palmy! Reality is that things have been going backwards for owners for many years and is going to get worse with the cost of living and very few new owners coming through! There are many issues at play here that is making it look like harness racing is in a dire position and unless HRNZ and NZ TAB change policy and wake up, there will only be racing at Addington in the future.

Personally dont think anything untoward going on here at all as very minute compared to how many horses Stonewall line up. Didnt Cran Dalgety lose a few awhile back? Bigger concern should be the loss of life and harm caused by people accepting being forced into having toxins injected into their body! Reality is that it is always going to happen that these high performance horses are going to have issues by running so fast nowadays. What we dont want is to have these SAFE lunatics sniffing around due to our own poohing in our own nest!!

I am not overstating Carter’s skill level! He is by far our best Junior driver at the moment and definitely the best we have had for a long time. Trainers will be using him more and more as he has got what it takes in the top 2 inches! The fact that he has been around horses so early and been around Dexter and other good drivers it is not hard to understand why he is going to be one of our very best. Brodie is on the money

Originally when the Telfers said they were setting up in Canterbury, I was not sure how they were going to go! Well they have showed us all what a great set up and trainers they actually are! By the look of it they are going to win the Premiership very very easily. Amanda Telfer obviously knows what she is doing but I would say there biggest asset is Tim Williams! It appears that the fallout with the AllStars has been a blessing in disguise and Tim is the one who has come out well ahead . Think AllStars loss is Stonewalls gain without doubt. Tim has developed massively over recent years and continues to give goals.

I still maintain Carter in his first 2 years of Junior driving is a superior driver to Dexter! If he isn’t then he is very close and the best since Dexter. He sits very nicely in the cart, is confident and intelligent so he can only get better with experience. Dexter is in the top few drivers in the world his record shows that, however my point was Carter Dalgety as a Junior is equally as good.

Probably am Ranga! Early days a superior UDR at this stage!

Doesnt affect me Ranga, I live in NEW ZEALAND!!!! Blatant BS having Maori rammed down our throats!! I do have a major gambling problem! Never get enough on!

Of course, the point I was making is that Carter’s UDR for both of his first 2 seasons as a Junior was superior to Dexter’s! Far superior to All other Juniors!

Not sure what is going on? Can not get onto the TAB betting site saying that it is not available from my location! WTF? Not on Stewart Island or PNG! Has “The Brodster” been locked out by the NZ TAB or is everyone out?

Mr Cock, maybe I have been on something? Have no figures as to how many Junior drives Dexter Dunn had! Seem you are Mr Know All, Mr Cock, what was Dexters best year UDR?????

Yes Dexter is one of the very best drivers in the world without doubt. Not sure how many drives Dexter had in NZ as a Junior as he was originally in Oz? Dexter did win a lot and with some pretty average horses. Not sure his Junior UDR was as high as Carter’s though but someone will know.

Not sure why over the years the NZ Trotting Cup wasnt changed to what the gait actually is? Pedantic you might say, but from my point of view the starters in the race tend to be pacing rather than Trotting! Has it ever been mooted that it should be changed?

Going by the UDR, I would say that young Carter Dalgety is the best Junior driver we have ever had! His stats as a junior are far better than what Blair Orange’s was as a Junior! Not sure but Dexter may not have been a Junior driver in NZ but if he was his UDR wouldnt have been as impressive as Carter I am pretty sure. Carter comes across as a very level headed young bloke and has always been very good when he has been interviewed. I appreciate that he is getting some pretty good drives from a top stable but I am prepared to state that he is going to be one of our very best drivers for a long time and a top trainer should he choose this route as well! His drives this year and last have his UDR both over .3000 which is very impressive. This year he has been in the first 3 in nearly 50% of his drives.

Pleased you are finding value! Punters invest differently and what is being offered at most meetings is not suiting me at the moment, so I am just not bothering. Not a problem as it doesnt affect my lifestyle but enjoy the challenge. Wouldnt worry the TAB either so everyone is happy. Ashburton Sunday racing mainly over 1700m is another wasted space, and wont be investing watching live. Good luck to those having a go!

You are correct re the cold during Winter at Addington, far easier watching Trackside in the warmth of your lounge. Trackside is one of the reasons track attendance is just so poor now. Another is the treatment of certain punters by the betting agency doesnt make it worthwhile to attend as they are scrutinised too easily.

Yes no deductions is a bonus as well from the NZ TAB, so yes they are trying things to help get punters to invest! While they restrict certain punters to pathetic amounts and have a $1k ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING LIMIT then the turnover sill be stifled. The Bookies really need to grow some as they are not very brave.

Well done to the NZ TAB on bringing back the “HEAD TO HEAD” for harness after a long absence. Be very interesting to see how long they last for? TAB how about giving us the Option No. ??????

Looking thru the odds for Friday night, second week in a row and nothing I can see worth investing on!! Bookies you need to “grow some” and bring out the “Poser Plays” far earlier and advise the punters to get on and allow punters on for a fair amount and not your pathetic amounts! I am giving you the “heads up”, you continue to operate the way you are on harness racing punters, and you have killed it!! Personally do not think you really care, as long as you are getting paid for getting a good yield rather than increasing turnover that will increase your profit!

The NZ Cup is nothing at all like it used to be, despite being hyped up by Trackside. It is very sad that harness now allows 6 win horses into the NZ due to not enough competitive horses around and some of us are aware why this has happened. The current handicapping system has been tried but can we honestly say that it is working? Yes it has been great for many horses but on the whole it doesnt work as there is too much gap between the classes on raceday! Until it is sorted and stake money increases there will be a continuation of horses overseas in big numbers! Friday night’s fields shows this and it will be interesting to see how many horses start showing up now that we are into Spring?

Only eight races to be run on Friday night. Unfortunately 4 of the 8 have only 7 starters which is indeed very poor. Punters won’t bother too much although the owners of the starters have a pretty good chance of getting stake money. The industry is not in a very healthy situation currently and things need to change or things are going to get to a dire situation. There are not any new punters or owners coming thru in good enough numbers to make things viable!

Not a great sign for the future down there unfortunately but Southlanders are resilient! Problem down there is that they used to have so many more amateur trainers and this is probably declining in numbers? The increased costs to an owner to race a horse nowadays just not make it financially viable for people so individual ownership is getting hit. Unless the stake money increases significantly it is going to get harder to attract any new owners unless it is in syndicates. Years ago stablehands worked long long hours for low wages. Nowadays I am sure the wages bill has increased significantly so this has to be passed on to the owners, and this cost has not been seen in any increased stake money. Difficult times ahead for many juggling the finances with all of lifes increased costs. NZ TAB are not assisting harness racing by their draconian restrictions by way of restricting punters to pathetic amounts and the $1k ANTI -MONEY LAUNDERING BS!!!!!

You are correct he didnt cover any extra ground by being on the fence, but he did lose ground at the start from his gallop,@# he was 3rd last early on! Yes he did go very well at the trials the previous week as did Sporty Charlie. It doesnt really worry me too much as I dont invest on tight class racing

One of the nicest guys in harness racing in Canterbury, Colin DeFilippi had one of his best nkghts at Addington for a long time. Colin used to be one of our best drivers for a very long time but has been quieter than he once was with drives and horses at the races. He is probably under utilised nowadays but then that may be by choice? Anyway a great effort tonight to produce Heza Sport and Sporty Charlie to win first up against good opposition. They both went good at the trials last week and performed great tonight. A long stalwart of harness racing and deserves all the success he gets!

Surely this shows that our tighter assessed horses are the weakest they have ever been ? Heza Sport a good promising horse but you would not have thought that it could gallop away, and first up still beat those other ones gunning for a cup start automatically! Good runs by the Geoff Dunn runners but seriously we seem to be lacking the class horses we were used to! Think I still prefer the loose class racing, far easier to pick!

Depends on the race Ranga. With the odds so pathetic at the moment not worth much effort at the mo. So Power Plays may be the way to get reasonable collects otherwise I will stay on the sideline!